New United Safety Video with Jeff Smisek + Cebu Pacific Emulates Air New Zealand

Can you imagine Glen Tilton, United’s former CEO who repeatedly sparred with front-line employees during his tenure at UA, being featured in every onboard safety video? Never. To many, it would be like rubbing salt in a wound.

But Jeff Smisek has now taken over the helms. As he has done for years in Continental safety videos, he now begins each UA safety video:

Take a look:

This is a good sign. The many UA employees I have discussed the merger with are cautiously optimistic that with Smisek’s leadership, harmony between labor and management can once again be achieved. Importantly, expectations are not set unrealistically: FAs, for example, know that they are not going to suddenly receive a huge (or even moderate) increase in salary. Rather, they just want to be treated with respect–something that Glen Tilton, whether deliberate or not, was not able to accomplish in the eyes of the workers.

Many have criticized this new safety method as lacking professionalism, but I agree with Ben: more people are going to pay attention to this one then a standard, boring safety video. Isn’t that what ultimately matters? I congratulate Cebu Pacific for their innovation, though by no means am I advocating a similar style of safety demonstrations in the United States (for reasons I don’t need to go into).

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he
travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120
countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry
and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York
Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News,
CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying
international relations, American government, and later obtaining a
law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel
industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in
the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.
His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline
industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and
detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on
penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a
highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the
effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles.
Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of
points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the
direction and coordination of company travel.